Why babies are more “weepy” in autumn and winter

First-time parents often ask their doctor if their baby’s eyesight is affected by the constant tearing and watery eyes in the fall and winter. Do I need to treat it? Tearing and excessive eye discharge are signs of neonatal dacryocystitis. If left untreated, the repeated stimulation of inflammation can cause acute dacryocystitis in the child, or even the formation of a serious dacryocystic fistula, which is not only very painful for the child, but can also cause scarring on the child’s face later, affecting the child’s life. The incidence of neonatal dacryocystitis is 6%. Most are due to the lower end of the nasolacrimal duct being blocked by congenital membrane tissue or epithelial debris. In autumn, the temperature drops and the wind is strong, often stimulating the baby to produce more tears, and thus the tearing symptoms are more prominent than usual. As the child has long-term tearing and flowing, and is often accompanied by chronic or subacute conjunctivitis, it brings a lot of pain to the child and parents. Some parents think that the baby is young and the symptoms will disappear naturally when he grows up; some parents feel sorry for their babies and don’t want them to be treated when they are too young, and only think of going to the ophthalmologist when they are almost at school age, thus losing the best time for treatment. The younger the baby, the better the treatment. 2 months old or younger, only simple treatment such as massage and antibiotic eye drops are needed; 3 months to 6 months old, tear duct irrigation and tear duct probing can be used; and 12 months old or older, most of the babies need to undergo tear duct placement under general anesthesia. Therefore, for parents of first-time patients, doctors should inform them of the causes and dangers of neonatal lacrimal sacculitis and the importance of treatment, in order to eliminate parents’ ideological concerns and actively cooperate with doctors in treatment.